Club Meeting, 'Beautiful Birds of Columbia' - Tuesday 28th January 2025.
On Tuesday 28th January Morpeth Camera Club welcomed one of their own members; Graham Sorrie who gave
an illustrated talk entitled ‘Beautiful Birds of Columbia: Antpittas to Tinamou via Hummingbirds and Tanagers.’
He began by showing us a map of Columbia and his route which took in Bogota, Pereira, the Puracé National Park,
the Cali Botanical Gardens and Pueblo Rico Tanama Eco Lodge, showing us photographs of the lush landscape and
cloud forests, of his fellow travellers, guides and their accommodations, together with anecdotes of his experiences.
He also showed us a chart which he uses to log how many species he has photographed and observed around the
world.
He explained why he takes photographs of birds; it helps to confirm their identity, one can see the differences in
identity in each species and one can always go back to view each bird as a reference. There are different types of
bird photography, he explained; birds in landscape, portraits of birds and birds in flight. It is challenging to change
shutter speeds quickly from a bird which is in water, close to, or in flight. He went on to show the cameras he used
on his trip, pointing out the pre-capture button which stores three types of focus settings which he can use at a
moment's notice. What he looks for in a camera is portability, its weight and one that can be used in silent mode.
He went on to show us varieties and explained different attributes of beautiful, unbelievably coloured, exotic birds
which included the Antpitta, Tinamou, Tanager, Toucan, Kingfisher and Hummingbirds with even more exotic names
such as the indigo-capped, Shining Sunbeam, Sparkling Violetea, Andean Emerald with its iridescent colour changes,
Collared Inca and Buff Tailed Coronets. Graham explained how each species has evolved to suit their environment,
especially their length of bill. At lower altitudes, flowers are larger and birds need a longer bill to gather nectar. The
higher the altitude the smaller the blooms and the shorter their bills need to be.
He said that bird tourism has grown gradually with the opening of more tourist lodges with hides and reflective pools,
adding that they even came across a roadside café which had bird feeders in their grounds to attract tourists. With
a seamless dialogue and wonderful images, Graham perfectly captured the wonderful bird life of Columbia.
Chairman Peter Downs thanked Graham for his totally different talk after which refreshments were enjoyed.
Steph.
an illustrated talk entitled ‘Beautiful Birds of Columbia: Antpittas to Tinamou via Hummingbirds and Tanagers.’
He began by showing us a map of Columbia and his route which took in Bogota, Pereira, the Puracé National Park,
the Cali Botanical Gardens and Pueblo Rico Tanama Eco Lodge, showing us photographs of the lush landscape and
cloud forests, of his fellow travellers, guides and their accommodations, together with anecdotes of his experiences.
He also showed us a chart which he uses to log how many species he has photographed and observed around the
world.
He explained why he takes photographs of birds; it helps to confirm their identity, one can see the differences in
identity in each species and one can always go back to view each bird as a reference. There are different types of
bird photography, he explained; birds in landscape, portraits of birds and birds in flight. It is challenging to change
shutter speeds quickly from a bird which is in water, close to, or in flight. He went on to show the cameras he used
on his trip, pointing out the pre-capture button which stores three types of focus settings which he can use at a
moment's notice. What he looks for in a camera is portability, its weight and one that can be used in silent mode.
He went on to show us varieties and explained different attributes of beautiful, unbelievably coloured, exotic birds
which included the Antpitta, Tinamou, Tanager, Toucan, Kingfisher and Hummingbirds with even more exotic names
such as the indigo-capped, Shining Sunbeam, Sparkling Violetea, Andean Emerald with its iridescent colour changes,
Collared Inca and Buff Tailed Coronets. Graham explained how each species has evolved to suit their environment,
especially their length of bill. At lower altitudes, flowers are larger and birds need a longer bill to gather nectar. The
higher the altitude the smaller the blooms and the shorter their bills need to be.
He said that bird tourism has grown gradually with the opening of more tourist lodges with hides and reflective pools,
adding that they even came across a roadside café which had bird feeders in their grounds to attract tourists. With
a seamless dialogue and wonderful images, Graham perfectly captured the wonderful bird life of Columbia.
Chairman Peter Downs thanked Graham for his totally different talk after which refreshments were enjoyed.
Steph.